Q is for Quantity: "Measurement" by Norman Robert Campbell

 9-204

Other Q Idea: Quality

I originally thought about trying to combine Quality and Quantity to cover both, but there are no Q readings in the Gateway.

Summary: Measuring is mostly figuring out how to count and order different objects by a specific property.

Bonus: You have to be able to count to be a Pinball Wizard

Commentary: In his intro, Campbell mentions, "that many sciences are 'mathematical'." I'm curious what sciences he's thinking of that don't involve math. Likewise, when he makes his potato example, he lists "cooking qualities" as  non-measurable, but I'd say some of those (how long does it take to cook through if boiled, for example) are easy enough to measure. A lot of this treads similar ground to the "Definition of a Number" that I read earlier, but it's much more sensible, largely by differentiating between "number" and "numeral" (the symbol that represents a number). 

He lays out three rules for numbers

1) two objects which are the same in respect of that property as some third object are the same as each other; 

(2) by adding objects successively we must be able to make a standard series one member of which will be the same in respect of the property as any other object we want to measure; 

(3) equals added to equals produce equal sums. 

 He says there's no way to arranging colors into a single order. Which is interesting, since Google tells me that the wavelengths for the colors had been discovered almost 80 years before he was born. 

Rating: 3/5 This (maybe a slightly excerpted version) is a much better introduction to the concept of numbers than the one we read earlier. A worth edition to any classic essays collection.